"Why look my unnies...? No look my unnies!"

While playing around with some of my lesser-used alien races and designing new characters, I decided to take a crack at drawing a Ridgeback, and doing something a bit different with him than the primitive, tribal hunters and gatherers I typically portray them as.

Kip here is part of an offworld population of Ridgebacks, living in a much more modern setting than his tribal counterparts back on the species' homeworld, Terminus.

I haven't quite decided where he lives yet, although I have decided quite a bit about his personality--he often speaks in broken Galactic Common, and like most Ridgebacks, struggles with certain vocal sounds, substituting them for ones he can make with ease or omitting them entirely. He tends to be very blunt and direct in his communications and actions, showing little concern for the customs and mannerisms of the other races he encounters, and probably doesn't care that most races refer to "underwear" as such because it's meant to be worn under other clothing!

A bit of role-playing to "test him out" with a friend led to some fun interactions, his awkward speech and blunt way of interacting with others leading to some rather humorous results. I think he'd have interesting chemistry with characters like Domec or Ysla, the former's almost submissively patient and friendly demeanor leading to Kip feeling very comfortable around him (although perhaps perceiving Domec as something of a "beta" or submissive member of the pack), while conflict with the latter's equally blunt and direct Ysl mannerisms would lead to something of a "frenemy" relationship between the two as they argue over everything from whose turn it is to use a screwdriver, to who gets to sit at what seat at a table for dinner--and that's before they start arguing over the food.

Living in a more modern setting certainly has its advantages, as foraging for food is now as simple as waddling to a fridge or vending machine, and his physique certainly reflects this!

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